Thursday, November 28, 2013

It is important that the local Church leaders and the Mission President meet often to coordinate their efforts. Monday, the Resistencia Stake Presidency and I had a day long meeting.

We met at the Stake Center at 4:00 am and drove to a secluded spot where we could get down to some serious business without being interrupted.

We had been given a tip from a "person who knows" that "This is the place"! So, we got settled in and then Alberto showed us his technique. The man has natural torque...

I, on the other hand, took a more casual approach...which explains in part why out of the 5 of us that "attended the meeting" I was the only one who did not catch a fish.

Did I mention casual?

Grass and shade...the perfect setting for our little meeting. Anyway, we (meaning they) caught and cleaned a few of these and some of their carp friends...

At first we were going to have a "choripan" (chorizo sandwhich) barbecue for lunch, but with so many fish...it was decided to just "feast" on them. Here is the lineup...

Yes, those are carp there with the other ones whose name I do not recall. Here is a little before and after picture...

Filet of carp...

From the frying pan and into the fire...

And, here is the final product, fresh, fried carp.

We returned home around 5:00 pm. I must admit it was one of the more enjoyable (and culinarily adventurous) meetings that I have had here during my mission. I hope that next time we meet like this again (it was our second meeting of this kind with a few more promised) I am a more productive and contributing participant!

Saturday, November 23, 2013

We stayed in Roque Saenz Peña Friday, after Thursday's Zone Conference because Saturday and Sunday I preside over the District Conference there. So after taking care of some missionary issues in the morning we decided to get in our casual clothes and explore. First stop, the Sunflower fields...miles and miles of them!

Then we thought, "We have come this far, we might as well go all the way to Pampa del Infierno" or, the "Grasslands of Hell." It wasn't as hot as I thought it would be, but worth it to say we were there...

Finally, we went to the Zoo outside of Roque Saenz Peña. We really liked it. You drive and walk all over the place. It is a little rustic, so it has a nice feel and it has picnic areas. The occasional loose animal gave it a sense of adventure as well....

Walking down one of the paths lined with cages.

Our favorite...Toucans.

This lioness was feeding her newborn cubs, who were fighting over location and position. There were a lot of male lions, too, and for some reason there was a roaring fest going on while we were there.

The parrot was not in the mood to talk much.

There were black, brown and grizzly bears.

The hippo was pretty fun to see...it was hard to find, but fun to see!

This peacock was one of the few that stayed inside its designated pen.

The monkey is using a stick to try and steal food from his neighbor through the fence!

A free range peacock strutting around the zoo.

And my favorite was this camouflage-challenged alligator. You don't fool us, we don't think you are a plant!! There were llamas (I always think of Ron Davies when I see llamas), tigers, Cape buffalo, deer and many more animals there. It was a fun day...and then the phone started ringing again...!

Monday, November 11, 2013

It is 6 am and I have been awake for 2 hours! We are in Formosa having attended a Stake Conference this weekend and preparing for a multi zone conference here on Tuesday. I have a number of photos that I want to post, so without a theme but with commentary, here they are:

A portrait that President Carlos Zayas of the Formosa Stake drew and presented to Diane and me.

Leandro Palacios, an ex missionary from our mission, married Noelia Baez, the daughter of Graciela who helps us in our home, here in Resistencia. Although a number of our missionaries have married, this was the first reception we could attend.

I have been doing a good amount of grilling lately.

An artist in Concepcion painted this picture of Elder He-man with his lacrosse sticks on the wall of the pension where our son Taylor was living. Nice job!

53 new missionaries arrived in the mission within one week. It was amazing how we were able to get them all situated. You never know what you can do until you have to just do it.

A great shot of Diane and Debbie Carter on our little escape during the Mission Presidents' Seminar.

One of our son Chris' buddies from his mission who works for the Church and had an assignment in Resistencia.